HERTA SECURITY SL

Their core work

Herta Security is a Barcelona-based SME specializing in facial recognition and video surveillance technology. Their core product line focuses on advanced face recognition algorithms and crowd behavior analysis for security applications. They develop AI-powered surveillance systems for law enforcement and public safety, with growing involvement in cybersecurity and autonomous threat detection. Their work spans from embedded computing hardware integration to high-level AI analytics for security operations.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2015-2018, Herta participated in hardware-focused projects (RAPID, AXIOM) dealing with embedded computing, acceleration services, and I/O modules — foundational infrastructure for real-time image processing. From 2019 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward AI-driven security: first coordinating AWARE on facial recognition and crowd analysis, then joining STARLIGHT on AI for law enforcement with emphasis on ethical, human-centric design. The trajectory shows a clear move up the value chain from computing infrastructure to applied security AI with strong ethical considerations.

Herta is moving from being a hardware-adjacent tech provider toward becoming a specialized AI security company focused on ethical, human-centric law enforcement applications.

How they like to work

Herta primarily participates as a partner in larger consortia rather than leading them — they coordinated only 1 of 4 projects (AWARE, their smallest). Their 65 unique partners across 19 countries suggest they integrate well into large, multi-national security and digital consortia. Their single coordination was an SME Phase 1 project, typical for an SME validating a product concept before scaling through larger partnerships.

Herta has built a broad European network of 65 partners across 19 countries, largely through participation in large security and digital research consortia. Their geographic spread is wide for a 4-project SME, reflecting the large consortium sizes typical of EU security research.

What sets them apart

Herta occupies a specific niche at the intersection of facial recognition, crowd analytics, and law enforcement AI — a combination few European SMEs can claim with direct product experience. Their AWARE project demonstrates proprietary face recognition technology validated through EU funding, while STARLIGHT shows they are trusted to contribute to sensitive law enforcement AI programs with strict ethical requirements. For consortium builders in security or public safety, they bring real commercial product experience rather than just research capability.

Highlights from their portfolio

• AWARE
  Herta's only coordinated project — an SME Phase 1 validating their core facial recognition and crowd behavior analysis technology for next-generation video surveillance.
• STARLIGHT
  Their largest funded project (EUR 367K), a major 5-year security initiative applying AI to law enforcement with emphasis on ethics, sovereignty, and human-centric design.
• RAPID
  Their earliest H2020 project, providing foundational work in heterogeneous computing acceleration relevant to real-time surveillance processing.